Lauren Davis

Lego sure has been partying hard these past few months. Last weekend, it celebrated Brickfair in Chantilly, Virginia, and Friday marked the 80th birthday of the original Lego wooden toy company. This past spring, Lego marked another milestone — 50 years in Japan — and celebrated by encouraging children to build a giant Lego map of the country.

During the March and April "Build Up Japan" celebration, sections of this Lego map sat in six different regions across Japan, where more than 5,000 people built atop the base map. Then the pieces traveled to Tokyo and where finally joined into a single nation. Children were asked to envision their idea of Japan's future, and with the help of their parents and Lego employees, created towering structures, serene pagodas, and boats drifting off the shore. It has a haphazard beauty to it all, but it's crying out for a person in a kaiju suit to knock the whole thing over. You can see more photos at the "Build Up Japan" Facebook page.